Lurid Silence
by Kalka
Summary: I brought him here. The first few weeks were fine, but now it's just starting to get worse. What is he trying to say to me? He could atleast tell me why he's sad, for crying out loud.
1. Mesmerized

The lurid clashing of the waves on the rocks and shores wasn't anything ominous at all, really. It was loud, but it always had that peace in it... that concord. That feel when you know there's nothing to worry about.

The silence drooping over the island was obvious, however. Despite the serene atmosphere, there was always this lurking silence. Like something was missing.

Even in that moment, Miles always wondered why he liked Sonic so much... as an idol, of course. Even when they accidentally met on that island, with their villain's compromise of emerald fields and animals, to chemical plants and badniks.

It wouldn't have been possible to 'save the world' again, if it hadn't been for Miles. That small, cute cub with orange-white twin tails. Despite the Tornado damaged in the last moment, 'that last moment' was always a chance for a repair. And so it did, adding a turbo boost to speed things up and catch up to Dr. Robotnik in case he decided to make an escape.

Sonic could fly a plane, but not as well as Tails. The kid's agility was somehow extremely flourished to him. It would open new abilities... The fox was an expert in machinery! With a useful friend like him.

...  
...

Useful, huh?

No. Screw it. I can't believe I'm writing this. I'm writing a story about us two, and it just can't work... I mean... Honestly, I have to do this my own way! I can't have an omniscient writer telling my story!

...Or is it a story? The way I see it, my time with Tails was short indeed... I mean, it's not like he died, of course! Maybe I should rephrase that...

It's just... it's only been a while since I first met him. When he followed me in that forest on West Side Island, I knew... That potential in his eyes... He really was lost. He was innocent... He was cute.

That's why I took him in as a friend. He was living with no-one. It's kind of hard to imagine a stray cub wandering around, curiously spying on 'tourists' of the island. He told me once that he's seen people here and there, sometimes arriving on the island by boat. I was the only one by plane, because who would land on an island that looks deserted? Well, me, of course. I was just doing my part to find a place to relax.

There was no denying no-one wouldn't take him in.

He DID tell me there were native animals on the island, and he lived with them. They always helped him out and cheered him up, and he always used to do these crazy inventions.

Of course, he felt sorrow when I told him I had to leave for my own spot. He kept insisting that I take him with me, but I was reluctant to. I mean, he had friends here, so why bother?

He trusted me more, apparently. I didn't want to question it anymore, but I was still curious about his friends here. Wouldn't he be sad for leaving them here, too? I was starting to think they would turn on him if he said he trusted me more than them in their faces. That's not a good sign of assertive communication... We always have that limit.

Here's what I think. Essentially, in his little world of his, I'm a big tough guy. And if someone got in his way, I would be there to save him.

I got no problem with that. I mean, we're practically brothers! I look out for him, as he does the same to me... but I don't want to be overprotective on him... It looks like he wants me to, considering he has no methods of standing up for himself.

I can deal with that, but I can't be there to save him every time... He needs to learn how to assert his ways... but is that really the right thing to do?

I shouldn't be thinking that right now. He's eight, for crying out loud! Maybe I should wait a little later. It's a bit biased, and I can't just ignore his cries for help. And I won't. Never.  
I mean, sure, Dr. Robotnik gets in our case sometimes. It's quite annoying, yet very tiring. It feels like I can't keep beating him forever. I mean, when's that guy gonna give up? It honestly doesn't seem like anything's going to happen.

Let's not talk about that now. Let's talk about my best friend's behavior. The way he acts makes me smile, his childish antics that define him as even though he keeps his cool, he's always as silly as a small kid, tending to the aspects of curiosity and what have you. He was always stuck building machines, making inventions and trying to impress me with many cool things, not only utilities, but toys he made just for his entertainment. And I really liked his ego... his enthusiasm.

There was something that didn't fit the pages, however. Something odd that drifted away from my mind and I was distracted from it. It was that face. He would sometimes make this face either purposely or unconsciously as if he missed something. Something wandering out there, something important... And he was sad. I never asked him what's wrong, because I'm afraid of him getting mad or something. It was the weirdest feeling ever.

Even so, maybe I should have interfered, but I'm not the damn kid's father... Honestly... I don't feel like confronting him about it, but I should.

I look out the window, where a nice, clear view of the ocean met my eyes. It's still morning, and I can faintly hear the muffled sound of the mellow waves. I really _really_ liked this kind of weather and scenery. This particular time in the morning, the shading, the trees... in this small island, everything is already peaceful.

Something on the shore was nagging my mind. It was Tails. He just stood there, staring at the sea. And it seems like he's been there for hours. One part of me is contemplating if he's getting worse day by day. It was very ominous. You can't compare peaceful with ominous, really.

And that's all he would do. Just stare, stare and stare. Even in the first week that I brought him here to South Island, he was happy and cheerful, as if he didn't have a care in the world... now it's just swinging. One hour, it's a happy mood. The next hour, a clouded emotion, and the next hour, it's staring. Staring. Staring. Something's really wrong with him, and I wonder if it's my fault... Agh, I need a vacation.

Regardless, the kid's an innocent cub. He was lonely (even with friends back at West Side Island). And I can still see it. He's happier, here with me.

...The only friend I ever had. It's him.


	2. Speak and Spell

Confronting him wouldn't be that hard... right? I mean, he's just a casual 8 year old mechanic... One I've met a while ago.

Regardless, his enthusiasm toward me has caused a strong friendship between us. It seemed quite hard to think about, but oddly enough, it was hastily building up, and pretty fast, too. The kid has a lot of enthusiasm, and of course I'm gonna accept that! I mean, he's always there for me (regardless of showing off his mechanism skills).

Nevertheless, he always talked to me about building a small lab here and researching stuff, explaining complicated science, which to me was absolute gibberish. That's always what he liked doing. He acted as a teacher, explaining his invention and literally talking about it completely. It confuses me a lot, I know, but even so, he still tries to make me understand by gesturing his hands. It felt like I was in school again, but I didn't mind, anyway. I was still mesmerized by how he was able to comprehend this kind of information... it felt like he was smarter than me. I didn't want him to lose his ego. Besides, if he's happy with it, then do it.

That's when take two began. It was all lurid silence this time. His growing new attitude and unresponsiveness was awfully obvious. That stare out in the distance again. What is he trying to say to me? It's starting to turn antagonizing.

It wasn't even that, anyway. Instead, he would often sulk and just imply it. And it made me feel even worse... I didn't know what to do. How was I going to intervene?

Well, I had to think of something, or this is never going to end. It might just get worse.

Anyway, that day, it was already dusk. The sun had already sunk. The gradient light blue color mixed in with the swallowing dark blue, however. And it was going to, for a while. The clouds altered and bequeathed a stunning, beautiful light show, offering different possible hues within the range of red, orange and yellow. There was one fox kid who had his eyes locked on that sky now, instead of the common ocean. I sighed. It was almost time to come back in and take shelter. Who knows what'll happen these nights.

I approached him and bumped him on the shoulder with my palm assuredly. He was startled a little, but he certainly did wake up from that little world of his. I looked out with him, joining the stare party.

"So, what's the matter?" I kept my attitude and put enthusiasm on my voice.

Miles was silent, yet even then this silence was swallowed by the rising volume of the child's sincere, innocent voice. It looked as though he didn't want me worrying, but it's too late for that now.

"I... I dunno. I just... feel weird." His voice was lightly stammering. It was kind of hard to hear, due to the ruffled mess of South Island's wave cries.

"It's like... I want to go. Out there. To the outside world... but I'm stuck here..." He inquired. So it's my fault, then? His last regard was almost as if he was blaming me...  
"Well... I've always invited you out to a vacation with me. You remember what happened last ti-"

"I've already said it wouldn't be the same."

...Huh? He didn't say anything like that. Now that scares me. It wouldn't be the same? Is this kid fooling me or something?

"...What?" I hesitated. My soft smile was now a deeper expression of concern. It surely wasn't pretty.

"It's just... I haven't seen the outside world... this island, West Side Island and Angel Island are all exceptions, but..."

Oh, so that's what it is, huh?

"...I just... All I see is islands and oceans. Everything is tropical. I want to go out to a place that's normal! Y'know, like..." He trailed off. He did emphasize his point with a grin. He really did seem happy.

I looked back to the spot that was once my house, now remodeled into slightly visible metallic panels, swarmed with a tangle of leaves and trees. It was slightly hidden, but I knew he was working on something even bigger inside. That's where he kept and made all of his experiments. I was still enthralled by his work on machinery. The way he improved the Tornado was absolutely fascinating (at such a fast rate, even!).  
I began to speak, but it turns out I was the one speaking more in this conversation. My ears twitched, hearing the far and faint wailing of nearby seagulls, gliding their wings through the air. It accompanied the brassy sound of the waves. The violent wind caressed our fur and faces. His twin tails swung lightly, fighting through the wind.

"I know how you feel, 'lil bro. To be honest... I wish I was out there too." I agreed.

"We can go, though! We just need to, Sonic! Please?" There goes that begging again; it was a question of doubt. Even if it began for a few days. I only shook my head. "We can't just leave South Island here; what about our stuff?"

"We can take that too!"

I still shook my head. "We should wait a while, lil' bro. I think it's a little bit too early."

Tails grumbled, and just looked out at the damn sea. Again. It disconcerted me a little. It was very unnerving. Was he doing this on purpose, or was he actually spacing out, his mind riddled with whatever scholarly imagination he has? Now the atmosphere felt dense around me, and I was a bit nervous, for the first time around him. I quickly noticed dusk was rapidly switching to an opening dark abyss. Our only luminance would be the moon.

"H-Hey, bud... I think it's time we head inside... It's getting dark." I sighed, my voice sounding rather tired and hassled. Tails, like always, didn't respond. He always didn't respond when he disagreed. I can already see he's mad at me.

This is stupid. I'm being honest to the kid, yet no matter what I do, it's always something, and he'd always go back to doing something, or a simple excuse of "I'm busy! Sorry!"

* * *

This kind of activity was tedious, yet as I stand before the beauty of the rapid approaching night of the island, it was also peaceful. The wind chills made it pretty cold for me, but even so, I zoned out, just like my little buddy. My eyes were fixated on whatever caught its attention, and it felt like I was somewhere else, even when I still lay a palm on his shoulder in a friendly manner. I was able to at least communicate with him, verbally, but it felt like something was still missing there. It seemed like the 'stopped talking' excuse stopped, but it still remained. Now he's just a quiet, shy kid. Is this the lurid silence I had been looking for? The fact of a slow, shy state, with elegant and shrewd levels of speak and spell for a cunning fox, yet a decrease in emotion and enthusiasm? Maybe I haven't looked into the matter that hard myself, but looking back at him, it was apparent that whatever I saw was the communication of truth.


End file.
